Buy Ray Batvinis Books

A strong and compelling book on the FBI’s pre-World War II transformation.

Katherine SibleyAuthorRed Spies in America: Stolen Secrets and the Dawn of the Cold War

A richly detailed account of the FBI’s response to the world crisis of the 1930s and 1940s that overturns much accepted ‘wisdom’ about FBI intelligence failures and turf battles. Batvinis stays close to his sources while telling an engrossing story that should become the new standard account of FBI counterintelligence. A stimulating and fascinating work.

Richard Gid PowersAuthorSecrecy and Power: The Life of J. Edgar Hoover

Raymond Batvinis recounts equally thrilling stories of international intrigue as the FBI, working alongside other US government elements and allies, sought to overcome Germany’s efforts to disrupt and defeat its war effort in the US before and during the war. They will transfix the reader to the book’s pages much as the writings of the great spy novelists. However, unlike the novelists’ works, Batvinis’ accounts are not amusements, but discussions of real cases of a struggle between adversaries filled with lessons on counterintelligence (spycatching) as well as counterespionage (turning enemy agents against their spymasters).

GreatCharlie.com

A welcome addition to the literature on both the FBI and the World War II era, Batvinis’s book provides new information about how FBI counterintelligence and counterespionage operations against Nazi Germany during World War II transformed the FBI’s culture and capabilities.

Athan TheoharisAuthorThe FBI and American Democracy: A Brief Critical History

Raymond Batvinis recounts this FBI history with the insight of someone who has himself been in the game. An important contribution to the literature.

Hoover’s Secret War offers fascinating details about FBI espionage and counter-espionage operations during a deadly period in modern history.

David AikmanAuthorWeekly Standard

Hoover’s Secret War goes beyond solid scholarship and provides an eminently readable, richly detailed narrative, which allows the reader to see the war through the eyes of counterespionage in the Allies’ camp. This book a must-read for both fledgling or old-hand intelligence professionals.

Edward J. Appel, Sr.Retired senior FBI Supervisory Special Agent and Director of Counterintelligence and Security Programs at the National Security Council

Mr. Batvinis’ book is a splendid account of the FBI’s contribution to victory in World War II. Five cloaks, five daggers.

Joseph C. GouldenAuthor of 18 nonfiction booksWashington Times

This is a monumental book, breaking new ground in the field of secret intelligence. I strongly suspect Batvinis will write a third book, covering the early years of the Cold War. When complete, that body of work should stand alongside Rick Atkinson’s Liberation trilogy as an essential source for anyone interested in America’s soldiers and spies.

Tim WeinerAuthor, National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize recipient

FBI in Moscow

Read about FBI Agent Louis Beck who was sent undercover to the US Embassy in Moscow during WW2 to assess the security situation in the embassy. What he found was shockingly lax security attitudes that allowed the Soviet NKVD control of the place -- and of secret US codes. Read More

FBI in Honolulu

Relive the hour-to-hour experiences of the FBI field office in Honolulu as they respond to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Read More

Future of FBI CI

About

Historical FBI Studies by Raymond J. Batvinis, PhD, author of "The Origins of FBI Counterintelligence" and "Hoover's Secret War Against Axis Spies: FBI Counterintelligence During World War II." About Ray Batvinis